The ins and outs of living in Puerto Rico

Cell Phone Companies in Puerto Rico

Cell phone companies in Puerto Rico are the same big companies you see in the U.S. The more popular cell phone companies in Puerto Rico are AT&T, T-Mobile, Claro, Sprint, and Open Mobile. Some companies use the CDMA signal others use the GSM signal. Although it looks like the CDMA signal is being phased out by the different companies, Sprint still holds on to its CDMA signal.

I’m going to give you an assessment of the available cell phone companies in Puerto Rico from customer service to signal strength. I will try to be very objective and balanced, and to be fair, I will not say which company I use. I will rate the companies from 1 to 5, 1 being very poor and 5 being excellent in different categories. Also, I will give a few things here and there that you may want to consider regarding this company’s cell phone service in Puerto Rico. They all have good things and bad things, you decide which cell phone company in Puerto Rico would fit you best based on what your needs/wants are.

One thing to note is that many of these factors change based on how close you are to a particular cell tower and how many users of the same company are located at a particular location. For example, during the Central American Games in Mayagüez back in 2010, I saw “portable towers” powered by generators because there were so many users of the same company concentrated in one area that the signal strength decreased significantly. So I will give you an assessment of every day average usage expectation based on my experience.

Scores are from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).

Sprint:

Overall Coverage: 4

Signal Strength indoors: 3

Signal Strength outdoors: 4

Customer Service and restrictions: 4

Data Speed: 2

Data Limit: 5

Sprint is the only “true nationwide” company out of them all. I searched for the plans online and
regardless of which zip code I entered as my location (including a Puerto Rico zip code), I always got the same plans and prices. What
happens is that some companies have a “Puerto Rico version” of their plans and prices, not so with Sprint, Sprint in Puerto Rico is
the same as Sprint in the USA. Now, Sprint in Puerto Rico counts with a 4G LTE network that is supposed to rival the data speeds of the other companies (it doesn’t really), add to that the truly unlimited data plus the most affordable plans and you have in Sprint a worthy company to look into.

T-Mobile has what I call a “Puerto Rico version of the company”. Which means that they have different
plans and prices from those in the U.S. However, the signal strength is pretty decent, especially indoors it seems as though the concrete
walls do not that much of an effect for the T-Mobile (GSM) signal than it does let’s say the Sprint signal (CDMA). Also, their data
limit is more of you get a certain amount at a certain high-speed and then if you surpass that your speech will go down but you will not
get charged for the extra data usage so they get away with saying that is unlimited and it is technically but after a certain point
your Internet is going to get really slow.

AT&T:

Overall Coverage: 5

Signal Strength indoors: 4

Signal Strength outdoors: 5

Customer Service and restrictions: 3

Data Speed: 5

Data Limit: 3

AT&T is by far the most popular cell phone company in Puerto Rico. The coverage is excellent and you
get a signal pretty much anywhere except for very remote areas. Their signal does well indoors and their speed is one of the fastest
available. However, they are the most expensive and the one with the most restrictions, it almost seems as though they feel it is your
privilege to be their customer as opposed to they being privileged to have you as a customer. They also work the “AT&T Puerto Rico”
thing, so some of the plans and prices may be different between Puerto Rico and the U.S.

Claro:

Overall Coverage: 3

Signal Strength indoors: 3

Signal Strength outdoors: 3

Customer Service: 1

Data Speed: 3

Data Limit: 3

Claro bought Verizon Wireless back in 2007 and it now has arguably the most coverage in the island, they
claim 97% of the island is covered by them. However, the way they are doing it is by having a mixture of signals, some areas get CDMA and
some areas get GSM which then your signal strength depends on the phone you have. They also seem to be everywhere, in every corner you see one of
their stores or kiosks. The worst part about Claro is it’s customer service, it is simply horrendous.

Open Mobile is a company that specializes mostly in local coverage and in plans without a 2-year agreement. Therefore, you can expect to pay a bit more for the phones and activation and other fees, but whenever you want, you can cancel without any penalty. They don’t have any real “big time phone (other than the iPhone) and their 4G Coverage although fast (LTE), it is limited to the San Juan Metro area as of now.

As you can see, Puerto Rico cell phone companies provide a service that is very similar to just about anywhere else. Puerto Rico is often included in the National plans of the big cell phone companies that are sold in the US. More often than not, calling to Puerto Rico will NOT be long distance when using a cell phone, and if you have a national plan, when you come here you should have signal and service just lke you do in the US.

I use Pix Wireless for GSM service and get excellent coverage in PR. They also have plans for their Sprint network where you can bring your own phone. Here is their coverage map: http://www.pixwireless.com/coverage

I am in Puerto Rico and using my Verizon phone from US. Signal is great, and internet is fast. when my husbands PR AT&T doesn’t work, my Verizon is still good. I was planing on switching but the longer I am here the happier I am with my verizon. While you will have to turn on your roaming on the phone to get signal, you will not be charged for it. Price is the same as US calls and texts and data, but in order for your phone to work roaming needs to be turned on.

Once upon a time but after 2006 aprox they sold the company to Claro. Many people missinterpret that when you have Verizon and come to PR, Claro would give the coverage of roaming but in reality is Open mobile from what I read in one of their pamphlet.

Coverage on Postpaid Service, low to none roaming for prepaid (subject to device/hardware). National coverage is not included in Prepaid, so if by any chance you get signal, you will be charged roaming from your Prepaid balance and the minute rate.

Hi. Very interesting comments about cellular networks in PR. I have a question. I heard a rumor that Claro is buying AT&T in Puerto Rico and that they are actually doing some modifications on the AT&T network for the transfer. Is this rumor true? If it is this would be very bad. Claro is a terrible company.

I’m planning on moving to the San Juan area in mid October. I’ve looked at the metro PCs coverage map and it shows they have coverage but was wondering if you knew for certain that it works there. Thank you and have a great day

My daughter is in P.R.and she ask me for a cell she is just a kid and I’m thinking to get a cheap phone for her just for the moment. Well I see this boost mobile CO.that carrying a nice smartphones like Samsung Galaxy and their cheap the plan and also the phone, I would like to know is this boost mobile work’s in the island…

Hi Jay, there is a way to find a report that states the amount of Wireless Number Portability by carrier in PR? For example in 2015 how many numbers were transfer to sprint, at&t, claro ect… I thought about FCC but I don’t know if they keep this data.

Hi Jay, I love finally finding this site! Thank you! You provide great concise information. I am planning a return move to Puerto Rico after being away since 2011. My cell service now is with C-Spire in the states. Would I be able to keep that service? I am moving to the Aguadilla area of the island. I can’t wait to get back! I loved it there!

As far as I know, yes, C-Spire will work here. The problem is that C-Spire uses the CDMA signal technology which is susceptible to dead zones and it suffers tremendously when you’re indoors. Also, if you’re up in the mountains you will find yourself with very little signal very often.

So the short answer is Yes, you will have signal and you can use it here as long as C-Spire is ok with it. Your signal will be similar to those who have Sprint. I used to have Sprint and after many years I got fed up with it and switched. Read my latest blog post if you want more info.

Are you originally from PR or did you live here a few years and move back to the US and now want to come back?

Hi Jay. Thanks for clearing my questions on c spire service. If I can start with it while I’m there, then I can look into changing my service once I see what’s good in Aguadilla! To answer your question, I visited for an extended stay in 2011, fell in love with the place, and now my desire is to move back for a long time!

You sure CDMA suffers indoors more than GSM? At my home (which has LARGE aluminum sheeted closet mirrors on every room), the Polytechnic University, Plaza Las Americas, Tren Urbano (underground), Centro de Convenciones and even inside any elevator I get good signal and clearly talk with anyone using same CDMA-based cellphone company.

My uncle however he has T-Mobile, works in 1-story unit and HAS to walk to the roof to talk clearly with people.

My brother has Sprint, he has to go outside to get a signal too.

My neighbors AT&T, I see them in the gutter of the streets when they talk to their friends.

While every visitor in my house are forced to go outside to answer calls, I’m the only one who gets uninterrupted voice, data and text without getting up from my chair. I have Open Mobile and I’m trying to get them to switch but none of them are listening, maybe their brains are GSM as well and don’t work indoors, maybe I should talk to them outside to get the message through.

So far switching from T-Mobile to Open Mobile has been excellent except that Open Mobile treats existing customers like crap so no new shiny new phones for us even after 3 years with them, still better than AT&T’s customer service which were completely indifferent if your cellphone had no signal anywhere at all. Also Open Mobile’s only 2 flagships are iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S6 which is inferior to the S5 due to Steve Job’s greedy ghost poltergeisted Samsung’s development team and made the Galaxy more iPhone-ish.

Well there are many reasons why someone gets signal inside or outside or wherever, from actual device to how close the tower is among other things. I don’t know where you live but my neighbor actually has Open Mobile and she faces the same problems I did while I was with Sprint. My Sprint signal suffered a lot while I was indoors, in fact, in efforts to keep me as a customer, Sprint gave me an Airave antenna for my home so I could have like a mini-antenna because otherwise I would have none. With ATT I now have incredible signal.

Those places you mentioned like Plaza las Americas, the POLI, and others, I had an awful time with Sprint but not at all with ATT, seriously no problem at all. I honestly have not had any signal problems with ATT. I had Sprint for a long time but I simply could not do it anymore, I was paying for a service that had no signal.

I personally don’t have a lot of experience with Open Mobile other than my neighbor not getting as much signal as she prefers and also the fact that when I went to the Open Mobile’s booth they could not answer my basic questions! The employees were clueless! It could be different now though.

Also, to be fair, I am sure that there are pockets here and there where any one company will be better than the other. So far I have not had problems with ATT, while I was sick and tired of the problems I was having with Sprint.

No, it depends on your company. I live close to a cell tower but it was from a different company so I had no signal from my previous cell company. I now have a cell phone with the company that has a tower near me so I get really good signal.

Its a good idea to ask co-workers and neighbors about their mobile service company (“Compañía de celular”) they use and if they like it, as one could be better or worst in the part of the island that you live in, specially if you live in more deep country parts.

Hello –
The company I work for holds federal government contracts. We are required by the contract to provide blackberry devices to all of our employees. We currently have a few employees located in Puerto Rico. These employee are using AT&T wireless, however our company has terminated our business with AT&T. We are searching for a wireless company (possible local company) we could use for our employees. Any suggestions are welcomed.

I prefer not to say that one company is better than the other since I like to give people the facts rather than just opinions. What I can tell you is that AT&T seem to have the happiest customers, so if you want good and reliable service, AT&T is the way to go. However since you no longer have a working business with them, that leaves you with either Sprint, Claro, or TMobile since to my knowledge OpenMobile does not have BlackBerry devices.

Claro has the most complaints of all and the only time I have heard good reviews regarding Claro is when they finally change to another company. Their plans are hard to understand too, plus if you need to call a U.S. number, you need to have “long distance” service in your wireless plan. Oh, good luck getting customer service in English (or Spanish for that matter).

TMobile seems to have pretty good service and the people I know that has it are happy for the most part, the only thing is that TMobile in the U.S. is not the same as TMobile Puerto Rico. I’m not sure how that works in the business accounts, but I do remember when I came here to visit with my wife years ago before we moved here for good, my wife had TMobile and had a problem with the phone, she called Customer Service and she was told to take it to the nearest store, then they told her that it cannot be in PR because even though it is technically TMobile, it is not TMobile USA, it is Tmobile Puerto Rico and therefore a completely different company that works on the same network.

Sprint is the only true company that is the same whether in PR or USA. The coverage and overall service is still kind of hit or miss but they recently got their 4G LTE network going and I have heard improved performance. Plus calling to the U.S. is included in the plans. People that I know that use Sprint are generally neither happy nor unhappy with it.

So if you need complete reciprocity between the U.S. and PR, Sprint might be your best fit. (This is just an opinion, I don’t like to give my opinion but I’m just trying to be helpful.)

this is a wonderful and very interesting site, boy, am i glad i read some if not all of your findings on our wireless services in pr, i was able to make the right descicion on what phone and company to call, i have saved this in my favorites so in any case any friends need an advice i will refer them to these articles. thanks and keep up the good work, maybe next time i read on directv and dish etc,, they can be tricky sometimes .thanks